Gov. Bill Ritter said his office’s efforts this year on behalf of working families “cannot be disputed,” despite his veto of two high-profile labor bills.

Ritter on Friday touted various measures he said will make a difference for Coloradans, including legislation that stalls foreclosures, extends unemployment benefits and strengthens job-training programs at community colleges.

“A health care act that insures another 100,000 people is a much bigger deal than the things we tend to focus on because they have to do with controversy,” he said.

That controversy is with labor unions upset by two vetoes from the Democratic governor.

At a midday rally, dozens of firefighters ripped Ritter for nixing a collective-bargaining bill and hinted they won’t be working on his 2010 re-election bid.

Randy Atkinson, president of the Colorado Professional Firefighters, was asked whether firefighters would support Ritter next year.

“We only support candidates who support firefighter issues,” he said several times. “I don’t think I can be more clear. We only support our friends.”

Senate Bill 180 would have allowed fire departments with 50 or more employees to collectively bargain with their employers about benefits, grievances and other issues.

Some fire departments already have unions, but they are not recognized by employers and are not involved in negotiations.

Ritter said he couldn’t support the bill because it involved only 11 fire departments, some in communities where voters already had rejected collective bargaining.

“You can’t do this job without sometimes disappointing people who you care a great deal about and who you respect for the work they do,” he said. “That’s just leadership.”

In a half-hour news conference in his office Friday afternoon, a day after taking action on the last of the 464 bills lawmakers passed this year, Ritter addressed the 2009 legislative session as a whole.

He said the state “made historic progress,” ticking off bills that provide new transportation funding and spur job creation.

“The audacity of nope”

Ritter said he wants a second term to continue that progress, including efforts that have made Colorado a model for education reform and energy innovation.

“The way we answer our critics is by doing the things we say we’re going to do and continuing that through a second term,” Ritter said.

His comments brought a snort from Dick Wadhams, the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

“Bill Ritter is guided by nothing,” Wadhams said.

Ritter, for his part, called Wadhams a “puppeteer.”

“There’s a lot of people that would say transportation funding has historically been a Republican issue,” Ritter said. “This year, they locked down on it. I suspect that the puppeteer, Dick Wadhams, had them locked down. It was ‘the audacity of nope’ in this building with all of the Republicans saying, ‘No.’ ”

“He’s hallucinating”

Said Wadhams: “Not only is he a weak governor, he’s hallucinating. I don’t tell Republicans how to vote, and I don’t need to. They ran circles around the Democratic leadership this year.”

The transportation bill increases vehicle-registration fees to provide what Ritter said was the first sustained transportation funding since 1991.

The measure was endorsed by Colorado Concern, a consortium of 100 of the most influential business people in the state.

“We believe that $250 million toward transportation projects is important, especially in this economy and in light of the fact that we need more than $1 billion dollars to ensure Colorado’s roads and bridges are safe,” said Janice Sinden, executive director of Colorado Concern.

Critics, including Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, countered that the measure increased fees at a time when Coloradans could least afford it.

The bulk of Ritter’s end-of-session news conference revolved around his vetoes of the labor bills.

In addition to his Thursday veto of SB 180, the governor last month vetoed House Bill 1170, which would have made it easier for workers to receive unemployment benefits if management locked them out of work sites, potentially improving workers’ standing in contract negotiations.

Labor leaders said Ritter broke promises made to them on the campaign trail in 2006.

At the noon rally held at the AFL-CIO’s headquarters in west Denver, some union members held signs that read, “Why does Ritter hate firefighters?” — a play on signs popping up across the state that read, “Why does Ritter hate” such and such county.

“It was OK for Ritter to take our money when he was running for office,” said Ron Taylor, 31, a five-year veteran of the Westminster Fire Department, “but when it came time to help us, he turned his back.”

Atkinson and Mike Cerbo, executive director of the state AFL-CIO, accused Ritter of not communicating on the bill.

Fences to mend

The governor countered that he sent a “clear signal” that if the firefighters couldn’t work out a deal agreeable to the Colorado Municipal League or Colorado Counties Inc., he would veto the measure.

Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Westminster, who co-sponsored the collective-bargaining bill, said some Democrats are frustrated.

“Between now and next year, we’ve got a lot of fences to mend,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”

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